Hurdle Drills into Three-point Starts Workout
by Steve McGill

I’m a big fan of doing workouts where we combine some hurdling drilling with some full-speed drilling, particularly in the off-season (anything pre-spring is off-season to me). The reason is that the drills help to ingrain rhythm and to instill improvements in hurdling mechanics, and then the full-speed portion of the workout at the end of the session serves to remind the athlete that, at the end of the day, it’s all about being fast and aggressive. Also, the full-speed portion serves to let us know how much of the technique is ingrained versus what elements we still need to work on. 

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Now, the above philosophy is targeted mainly toward beginners, or toward hurdlers who developed bad habits prior to training with me that we now need to address. For hurdlers who already have solid mechanics, it’s much more likely that we’ll skip most or almost all of the drilling so that we can save the legs for the speed portion of the workout. So, the workout I’m about to explain is designed primarily for beginners and those who have issues to correct.

First, we’ll always start with marching popovers. This is the drill that, for me, can be used as the foundational drill in addressing any technical issues. Why? Because unlike with walk-overs, etc., the popover drill requires both feet to leave the ground and be in the air at the same time. In essence, it mimics everything we want to do when moving at full speed, minus the block start. So, with the popover drill, I can address whatever needs to be addressed — the lead leg kicking, the trail leg lagging, the arms swinging side to side, the posture being too upright, etc. And, because the drill is done to a 3-step rhythm, it mimics the rhythm of the race, and subconsciously ingrains the stride pattern that we want during a race, including a cut step into each hurdle.

From there, I’ll open up the spacing a little bit and transition into a marching popover / cycle drill hybrid. Meaning, the athlete will do a popover over the first hurdle, and then transition into a cycle drill off the hurdle, which means running off the first hurdle instead of continuing to march.

From there, we’ll open up the spacing a little more and transition to the cycle drill, with a running 4-step approach to the first hurdle. 

From there, I might open up the spacing some more and transition to the quickstep drill, with a 6-step approach to the first hurdle. Or, I might go straight to the three-point starts. Generally, as I mentioned earlier, if I want the three-point starts to be high quality, I’ll minimize the number of drilling reps as much as possible. But if I’m more in teaching mode, then we’ll maximize the number of drilling reps and just add two or three full-speed three-point start reps at the end. 

I’m always making micro-decisions throughout each particular workout, and for each individual hurdler. I might make minor changes to the spacings and I might raise the height of the hurdles if the athletes are looking good. But generally, a typical session will look something like this:

• 5 reps of marching popovers over 4-5 hurdles at 24/27/30 inches (females) or 30/33 inches (males). Spacing between the hurdles will be twelve feet for both females and males.
• 5 reps of popover/cycle drill hybrid over 4-5 hurdles at 30 inches (females) or 33 inches (males). Spacing between the hurdles will be 15-17 feet (females) or 17-19 feet (males)
• 5 reps of cycle drilling over 4-5 hurdles at 30 inches (females) or 33/36 inches (males), with a 4-step approach to the first hurdle. The distance to the first hurdle will be 20-22 feet (females) or 22-24 feet (males). Spacing between the hurdles will be 17-19 feet (females) or 19-21 feet (males).
• 3 full-speed reps from a three-point start from the starting line over one hurdle. Hurdle should be either at race height or one click below race height.
• 3 full-speed reps from a three-point start from the starting line over the first two hurdles, with the second hurdle moved in 1-2 feet from race distance. Hurdles should be at race height or one click below race height.

In some cases, if the legs are still fresh and things are looking really good, I’ll add a rep or two over three hurdles from a three-point start. Also, if it’s warm enough and the athlete already has a very good block start, I might replace the three-point starts with block starts. But usually, I’ll save the block starts for another day, when they are the focal point of the workout.

The video below features one of my beginners, Marie Madsen, doing the drill portion of the workout.

The video below features another of my beginners, Grace Galloway, doing the 3-point start portion of the workout. 

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